Economics, politics, law and ranting - Got it covered?
No more nice....no sugar, no spice. The world sucks and here is my take on how to fix it....

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Foreclosures

Todd Zywicki of Senate fame for his support of the bankruptcy bill has complained that a judge that quoted his Senate testimony did so out of context. It was a whine of excellent proportions and I ignore it here. However, I did post a comment on his blog, recreated here for all to read:

Todd,

He is not the only judge bad-mouthing the law. Hundreds of judges, trustees, bankruptcy attorneys and a large number of law school professors wrote extensively on what was wrong with that bill. Sen Feingold happens to be my Senator and I do not like him, but unlike the Republican Senator from Wisconsin who voted for the bill, he opposed both the intent and way the bill was rammed through. Your characterization only lent support for the effort and if you don't like the result, well, you are not one of the thousands of debtors that have to deal with it.

We were one of the voices in the wilderness shouting that the law was bad. From my blog and on my partners law office website , we tried to warn people.

Needed or not (and we didn't think it was needed to address the issues you so broadly claimed needed addressing), the law is a non-functioning nightmare.

Two issues most clearly stand out. Bankruptcies are down almost 80% nationwide - as intended by the bill - but foreclosures are up as much as 50% in some areas (68% in our district), so the reasons for people to file have not changed.

Second, the attorney fees, court filing fees (slated to go up AGAIN on April 9th), and the cost of credit counseling have made it very difficult for the people 'least likely to be affected by the law' to actually afford adequate representation.

Proclaim 'out of context' all you want, the judges and attorneys that have to deal with what you considered fine legislation for the next 20-30 years will remember your contribution for a long time. And if they immortalize you in their decisions, well, what more could an attorney want!?

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Well, I did want to follow up on the one set of numbers I referenced in the comment with some hard numbers:

Metro Denver foreclosures increased to 1,523 in the first month of 2006, the highest number on record in Metro Denver. Compared to January 2005, the number of foreclosures in Metro Denver stands 37.1% higher. Denver, Adams and Douglascounties reported the highest levels of foreclosure activity in January 2006 in terms of percentage gains from January 2005. Although all seven Metro Denver counties reported heightened foreclosure activity, Boulder, Arapahoeand Broomfield counties reported the smallest percentage increases. The largest number of foreclosures in January occurred in Adams, Denver and Arapahoe counties.

Indiana lead the nation with its foreclosure rate was nearly 1 percent. The Midwest has had the roughest time lately in the country as stagnant employment and rising energy costs have hit the region hard.

"This is the third straight month the U.S. foreclosure rate has moved higher, and it's the second straight month new foreclosures have topped 100,000", said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

If more people than ever are facing foreclosure and fewer people are filing bankruptcy...we have many more homes being liquidated and many more people falling off the homeowner rolls. This is neither good for the real estate markets nor the industries supported by home ownership.